Counsel Concerns

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit reinstated a legal malpractice claim against the New York firm Cowan, Liebowitz & Latman that was brought by former of-counsel Amy Gurvey. Gurvey v. Cowan, Liebowitz & Latman (CLL) P.C., 09-2185. The malpractice claim arose out of CLL's representation of Gurvey on her invention for selling on-the-spot concert recordings, though CLL had withdrawn from representing Gurvey by citing conflicts of interest from its representation of Clear Channel Communications (CCC), whose affiliate InstantLive developed its own process for on-the-spot concert recordings.

Gurvey's suit alleged unfair competition and interference with prospective economic advantage against CLL, InstantLive, Clear Channel and its then-concert affiliate SFX (now Live Nation), as well as misappropriation of trade secrets against all the defendants. Gurvey's suit additionally alleged fraud, breach of fiduciary duty and malpractice by CLL, and state and federal anti-trust claims against several of the defendants. The U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York dismissed both CCC and Live Nation for lack of personal jurisdiction. The district court then ruled, among other things, that Gurvey's claims for misappropriation and for tortious interference were time-barred, and that the anti-trust and malpractice claims were too vague.